TFA: Transformer and roll out-recast
by supernova22
Summary: rewrite of TFA opener but written with its original planned cast, with red alert and hot shot in place of ratchet and bee.


Optimus prime sat at his command seat watching the old war historical documents, longing for the supposed glory they portrayed. Red alert, the slim red and white femme medic, and second in command, came up to stand behind him.

"sir, why do you insist on continuing to view outdated archives?" she asked calmly

"all the great autobot leaders learned from the past"

"but war time lessons are no longer relivant. The great war has been over for centuries, and by the will of the all-spark, it will be the last one cybertron sees"

"but don't you wish you were there, just a little? To see what it was really like? What the decepticons were really like?"

"I have learned all I need from studies, like you should have. And from what I've read of the decepticons, I'd say we're better off not knowing"

Red alert then directed optimus' attention to view screen, through which was the sight of the massive green autobot Bulkhead dangling from a cliff by his wrecking ball, shouting for help.

"at the moment though, I think your "soldier instincts" are needed elsewhere" she said dryly

Optimus huffed and they made their way to the cargo bay and exit ramp.

"I get it red alert, war is bad, but do you ever get the feeling that we're programmed for more than just repairing space bridges?"

"I have a diagnostics program that erases those thoughts like a virus in a fire wall" she said with the slightest hint of sarcasm

Optimus frowned as they transformed and headed out onto the asteroid. The hard thing about having red alert around was how monotone she could be. It was so hard to tell when she was happy, serious or snarky. The only emotions she expressed normally were anger and annoyance, usually towards Hot Shot. Hot shot himself was hopping up the rock face to try to free bulkhead, moving like a sleek blue, red and yellow streak.

"hurry up, I really hate heights" bulkhead whined

"calm down bulkhead, im working as fast as possible, and there is no bot faster than me, and you know it" he grinned

Hot shot produced his arm mounted flame throwers and shouted with excitement at unleashing a blast wave of flames on the rocks, or would have if he could produce any in the vacuum of space. Grunting at the realization, he started banging and stomping on the rocks to free the wrecking ball, rocking its owner around.

"oh, I think im going to blow a gasket"

"calm down and try to hold it in a little long…"

Suddenly the rocks cracked, broke apart and crumbled, sending both bots falling to the ground. After they landed on each other, optimus and red alert arrived and transformed. Red alert narrowed her eyes with frustration at the sight of hot shot being dinged up and in need of repairs; again.

"alright, what seems to be the problem?" optimus asked rhetorically

"the problem? The problem is that we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere crushing rocks for outdated space bridges!" hot shot snapped

"what I don't get is why anyone would even want to transport to this allspark-forsaken sector" bulkhead added

"that isn't the point bulkhead. We have a job to do here, and no problem is insurmountable with the right tool…and a little team work"

Optimus began chopping debris with his axe and encouraged the others to join in. bulkheads strength made crushing the rocks easy, though it was harder for hot shot to break them down, especially with his flame throwers so weak. Low level heat blast were however enough to weaken them enough to break down. Red alert, though thinking the task below her, also helped; laser blasts from her prosthetic hand cut through them easily. Optimus suddenly realized that they were one bot short.

"you too prowl…hey, where is prowl?'

Suddenly a shurikan whizzed by optimus to slice a nearby rock before returning to the hiding prowls hand. The aloof black and gold bot then stepped from the shadows.

"just have to know the weak spot" he said with a hint of condescension

"next time, might want to give us a little more warning" optimus cautioned with an edge

"that would just mess up my timing" prowl said dismissively

Red alert turned from the others only to look up to see a smiling bulkhead looking down at her, only to turn in another direction, pretending to be adjusting her hand emplacement. She shook her head; the conflicting personalities of their crew were creating an unproductive and hostile working environment. This was far from the career she thought she would have.

Hot shot saw red alerts discomfort with the situation and, as always, decided to push her buttons.

"careful doc bot, if you frown any more your lower jaw is gonna detach" he smirked

She then produced a laser scalpel from her emplacement and leveled it with hotshots face.

"If that is the case, then I will just have requisition your own" she said calmly but in a threatening tone

"why is she so grumpy all the time?" bulkhead whispered

"you'd by grumpy too if you had one servo in the scrap heap" he smirked

Suddenly the taller femme was in his face and her tone far more harsh.

"I may have one servo in the scrap heap, but my audio receptors still function perfectly, and if you do not stop pushing me rookie, I will gladly disconnect your vocal processor" she scowled

Sensing the tension, optimus wanted to give his team something to focus on.

"ok, I know we're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere on a thankless assignment, but remember, we're all cogs in the great big autobot machine…"

"not this speech again" prowl moaned

He buried his face in his hand in annoyance. Hot shot was also more visably pained by the experience. Bulkhead and red alert where just as weary but where better at politely feigning interest.

"…a machine that's stronger as a whole, than any one component part. Together, we can move mountains"

The speech was punctuated by the sudden rumpling of rocks around them and activation of the space bridge they were clearing. The blast of energy sent them and the debris flying in every direction.

"oh you sure have a way with words boss bot!" hot shot yelled as he tumbled away

In an impressive flurry of moves, prime utilized his axe and grappling hook to stop the debris, aid each of his team mates and shut down the space bridge. As the dust settled and the autobots picked themselves up, they were left in awe of the unassuming prime skills.

"impressive" prowl admitted as he shut bulkheads gaped jaw

"where'd you learn moves like that?" bulkhead asked

It was a question everyone was asking inside. Red alert was busy fixing hot shots damaged shoulder but turned away to glance at optimus, wanting to hear the answer as well.

"I trained at the autobot academy" optimus sheepishly admitted

Red alert stood and her eyes narrowed skeptically.

"so, what is an academy trained bot doing leading a mere maintenance crew?"

She felt a sting of aggravation. As the medic, she had no knowledge of this background of her commander.

"well, what's one of the best medics the autobots has ever seen doing here also?"

Red alert was viably taken aback by his knowledge and forwardness in the question.

"Ooooh, burn. He got you good red. But for real boss bot, her, I don't think so. The bed side manner is a little too rough around the edges. Let me guess prime; wash out? Yeah, me to. They said I had an issue with authority, and let's face it, they were threatened by the up and coming Magnus I am…"

Hot shots yammering was only silenced when red alert clasped her hand tightly over his mouth. Optimus was suddenly drawn to an otherworldly light emanating from a rock. Against the advice of his crew, he cleaves it with his axe, revealing a strange glowing artifact.

"what is it?" bulkhead spoke up

"don't know…maybe we should take it back to the ship so the doc bot can check it out"

No rebuttal or argument came from red alert, who just look at it completely astounded, almost mesmerized.

"red alert..?"

"telatraan-1 to optimus prime. Unidentified spacecraft entering this sector: Energy signature consistent with decepticon warship"

"decepticon, that must be a mistake. The decpeticons were destroyed centuries ago" optimus voiced

"Defeated in battle, not destroyed. An "academy bot" should know that prime. We should get back to the ship immediately"

"but what is that thing?"

"I have a theory but we must secure it first"

Red alert quickly transformed and had the artifact loaded into her alt mode and sped off towards the ship, with the others following behind her. They quickly boarded their ship and made full speed away from the new ship. In the cargo bay the artifact was unloaded and red alert began examining it franticly.

"red alert, any idea what it is"

"you seem to be the historian prime, does the all-spark register as familiar"

"obviously. The most powerful energy source in the universe. It gave the spark of life to all cybertronians"

"every bot knows that story" bulkhead groaned

"yeah, along with spark eaters and were-turbo foxes" hot shot joked

"According to records, one of the main reasons the great war was won was by ensuring the all spark remained out of decepticon control. It was reportedly sent through a spacebridge to be hidden in some unknown corner of the galaxy"

"incredible" optimus admitted

"so your saying we, of all bots in the universe, found the all spark?!" hot shot gaped

"perhaps, it found us" prowl mused

"Unlikely, prime. It is merely an energy source of unknown magnitude, But I must admit I never thought I would ever see it. The research and knowledge I could gleam by examining it could be…"

"warning: spacecraft approaching. Positive identification as decepticon warship.

"it isn't the only one that's found us" prowl added dryly

The crew got to their bridge positions and made all speed for autobot controlled territory. Prowl checked the scanners for the pursuing ship.

"it's following us" he reported

"you desired to see the decepticons up close, well looks like you've gotten your wish" red alert said sardonically

Optimus frowned at the statement, realizing the irony in the situation.

"yo, tell me this aint actually happening! We are not getting chased by decepticons! We're just a maintenance crew!" hot shot complained

"we cannot outrun them forever, and any attempts at combat are astronomical" red alert reported

"not without back-up they aren't. Patch me through to cybertron command head quarters!" optimus ordered

"wow, when you want back-up you go straight to the top" bulkhead commented

Optimus smiled at the compliment, slightly savoring his memories in his original field. Red alert raised a skeptical brow, confused on how optimus could even have clearance to high command. The screen lit up with the large chin and blue armor of sentinel prime. Red alert was even more shocked, knowing very well that sentinel was second-in-command of the elite guard.

"optimus prime, you mean they still let you command other autobots" sentinel smugly smiled

"don't start sentinel, just put me through to ultra magnus"

Red alert was surprised again, that optimus apparently knew sentinel personally, but also thinks he could talk to the supreme leader of the autobots simply by asking.

"now how could a third rate rock buster possibly merit the autobot supreme commanders attention?" sentinel said dismissively

Red alert and the others all frowned. Word was known that sentinel prime was an unlikable bot, but seeing his condescension first hand was fuel boiling. Hot shot frowned up at the prime, having had past experience with him, getting an itchy trigger finger with his flame throwers. However, optimus' experience with the other prime was far more personal, and was having none of sentinels attitude under these circumstances.

"display cargo hold visual" optimus ordered

Red alert clicked a few controls and a video feed was brought up for sentinel to see of the allspark. His look and temperament immediately changing, he casually patched them through. Red alert turned and gave optimus an approving smirk at his clever maneuvering. Suddenly a stern looking and aged blue bot appeared on the screen. His eye briefly glanced to register red alerts presence before focusing on optimus.

"ultra magnus here optimus, we're tracking your decepticon signal; probably just a lost scout ship. Ever since we drove them off cybertron, the cons have been wondering the periphery. They'd never be so foolish as to invade autobot space. Still, I'm sending out a strike force to intercept if necessary. In the meantime, you and your bots just sit tight. And prime, don't try to be a hero, it's not in your programming" the commander finished his orders before the screen went black

There was a collective uneasiness amongst the bots in the room regarding the very personal remark towards optimus by ultra magnus.

"decepticons still on our tail and closing in fast" prowl reported from the scanners

"then where the frag are they?" hot shot pointed out

Getting antsy and a nervous feeling in his spark, optimus began typing orders into his control panel.

"telatraan-1, set a course for the nearest space bridge" he ordered

"but Ultra magnus said to sit tight" bulkhead questioned

"with all due respect, ultra magnus isn't carrying the all spark"

Red alert couldn't argue with the logic; sitting there would be poor a solution under the circumstances. The ship did as commanded and came about quickly to head back to the space bridge they were previously docked with.

"so, we'll make a V line for the nearest space bridge and blast through whatever debris is in our way" he ordered

As they made their way through the thin asteroid field, their path was suddenly blocked as a massive, fearsome purple warship rose to block them. Red alert quickly calculated that it appeared to be at least 50 times larger than their repair ship.

"uh, boss bot, I don't think we can blast through that" bulkhead said nervously

"oh slag" hot shot squeaked

"I've never seen a decepticon ship up close" bulkhead added

"according to the records, none have...and lived" red alert admitted with a bit of depression in her voice

Optimus scanned it and ran it through the information archives, and red alert leaned over to see his result.

"it's a command ship, I recognize the markings from the history vids" optimus announced flatly

Red alert read the same description on his screen and turned to look at the enemy with visual distress.

"megatron" she added in shock

"hooooo, hold an astro sec; megatron, as in the cruel and merciless decepticon leader? The bot they say is bigger than ultra magnus, that could single handedly destroy whole ships and city blocks. The megatron that is said to eat autobot protoforms for breakfast, that megatron?" hot shot flailed about in a panic

"yes. Though I do not put much faith in the protoform eating part" red alert said with a straight face

Hot shot scowled at her condescension; he hated being looked down on by other bots. The only bot he liked looking down at him was bulkhead, and that was only because he was taller than him.

"quit giving him a hard time doc" bulkhead spoke up

"and perhaps who should quit enabling his belligerent behavior" prowl turned to bulkhead

"enough arguing, all of you! We have a more serious situation here; why aren't they attacking?"

"there are any number of reasons or strategies. But, why are we not also mobile, should we not attempt to flee or out maneuver them?" red alert asked

"if we do they will counter, but we will let them make the first move so we can counter; Always let your adversary be the first to make a mistake" he answered calmly

Clearly optimus' time in the elite guard training had done more for his leadership skills than she had previously noticed. Suddenly one of the decepticon ships' cannons trained on them and fired. Optimus ordered the ship to take evasive maneuvers and they dodged the blast. Red alert felt an increasing feeling of fear and fury rise in her. It was a decepticon booby trap in the last days of the great war, when she was a very young medic, that had taken her original right hand. Now she felt slight panic at being so close to such conflict again. Optimus fell on his command console and made an order that secretly, but greatly, surprised the medic.

"activate emergency defense system; codename: omega"

Red alert was shocked. Optimus' knowledge of that part of the ship less so; he was the commander and likely knew of the ships history, but that he would actually attempt to activate it.

"im sorry; this function has been disabled in compliance with cybertrons ongoing efforts to conserve energon" telatraan-1 reported back

"what?!" optimus gasped

Another energy blast grazed the side of the ship and knocked the autobots about as the ship automatically swerved to avoid other attacks and rocketed past the larger vessel.

"we're as good as dead aren't we? Oh god this is it for us, for me"

Hot shot went into a brief panic, his wrist spouting sparks of flames as a sign of his distress. He calmed as they managed to pass the decepticons and get by them, the larger ship slowly following and continuing to fire.

"why does it feel like they're just toying with us?" hot shot asked

"all shots appear to be targeted to disable us, not destroy us; why?" Red alert added

"because they want the allspark and don't want to risk destroying it with us" optimus frowned

"warning: asteroid field. Initiating alternate route" the computer announced

"override" optimus ordered it

The ship continued its course, swerving all about to avoid he asteroids that the continued enemy fire simply shredded through. The decepticon ship sped up and came to briefly look over them, yet its laser blasts had stopped. Near the ships midsection a small space craft appeared and closed in on them. Optimus realized that it wasn't a craft but an alternate mode. He knew from his studies that many of the decepticons had flight capabilities and alternate modes. They zoomed in on the object with their rear security cameras and suddenly saw it transform into a tall, bulky and fearsome grey bot. A large weapon, the legendary fusion cannon, sat on its arm and a cold scowl on its face when the image zoomed in.

"is that megatron?" optimus gasped

The shock and horror was shared by the whole crew.

"you never said he was so big" the already big bulkhead spoke up

"you never said he could fly" hot shot added

"technically, they didn't say anything" prowl answered the comments

Megatron came by and zoomed past the side of their ship then vanished from view. They all braced, yet no attack came.

"huh, guess he wasn't coming for us" bulkhead piped up

The ship was suddenly rocked from above. Megatron had perched atop their control room and was burning a hole through with his cannon.

"red, seal the hull breach. Prowl, hold the ship steady. Bulkhead & hot shot, guard the allspark. I'll try to hold off megatron!"

"but we're just a repair crew, we aren't built for this kind of action!" hot shot shouted

"then consider this an upgrade" optimus answered

"that is not how upgrades work, just for the record" red alert spoke up

The younger bots ran off out of the room while the others did their jobs. Using a security cam for guidance, he took direct control of the hulls external arms and took hold of megatron himself, grabbling with him and attempting to pry him off the ship. There was a sudden, massive external explosion that rocked the ship and sent everyone sprawling. The ship was badly damaged and sent into an uncontrolled dive towards the space bridge asteroid.

"warning: hull breach. Sealing hatches alpha, omega and epsilon" the computer reported

As the large smoking hole in the ceiling was sealed and extinguishers put out the flames, optimus struggled to see through the fading layer of smoke and get up to the controls.

"warning: planetary impact imminent" the computer came again

"go to manual override" optimus ordered

"can you do that?" prowl question

"all ships of this "make" do" red alert answered

A set of control handles released and optimus took hold of them, attempting to steady the ships plunge. He managed to pull up their trajectory and glide along the asteroid surface towards the space bridge. In the hold, bulkhead and hot shot panicked as the all spark began to react and glow.

"what's it doing, make it stop!" hot shot cried

"whoa" was all bulkhead could say

Suddenly its energy burst out and enveloped the entire ship. The energy also surged forth and activated the space bridge, and in another burst of light the ship passed through it. After the light faded the autobots began recovering to see they had materialized over a moon that circled a green and blue planet.

"prowl, red alert, everyone alright? Bulkhead, hot shot, report"

Optimus did not see a large figure loom behind him until it took hold of him and pinned him against the wall; Megatron had survived and gotten through the hull breach. He was far more intimidating in person; dark grey and red colors, thick spiky armor built for combat and twice the size of optimus. His face bore burning red optics and a frown so grim it would give the necrobot chills. At closer inspection, the blast had destroyed most of his right arm, only his upper section, stripped to its bare structure, remained.

"the all-spark, where is it?" he spoke in a deep raspy voice like death

Prowl and red alert, overcoming their fear of the warlord, charged to tackle him. Prowl jumped onto his arm to try and get optimus free while red alert clung to his side and lasered him with her hand tool. The larger bot swung about, knocking them away. He pinned prowl under his foot while still holding optimus and held him against another wall.

"I grow impatient" megatron growled

Optimus shot his grabbling hook past them towards the control panel, switching a lever.

"artificial gravity disabled" telatraan-1 announced

They all began to float freely and with his massive size rendered moot, optimus managed to free himself and force megatron away.

"clever strategy prime, giving us more of an equal advantage" red alert commented

Megatron floated near the ceiling and jammed his arm nub into a gap in the metal to steady himself. Suddenly hot shot and bulkhead came floating into the room

"hey, I'm a land bot not a flying bot, who turned off the hey…"

Hot shot was then bumbed from behind by bulkhead.

"sorry, my bad" he groaned

Hot shot was sent spiraling out of control until he hit a surface; megatron large leg. The autobot car looked up to see the massive decepticon leader staring down at him.

"you cons are even creepier in person" he smirked

Megatron growled, not amused and past his boiling point, drew his sword from subspace and began slashing at the diminutive nescience.

"oh slag, scarier to! Someone help, im to good looking to be scrap!"

"everyone, get into position for a concentrated attack on my signal" optimus whispered

Prowl then whizzed past optimus in a solo attack on megatron.

"prowl no, wait for my signal!"

Optimus went to grab him but his hand passed through him; it was one of prowls holograms. Meagtron did not know this though and slashed at the allusion and thus missed the real prowl attack him from behind. Prowl slashed with his shurikan, severing the nub that remained of megatrons damaged arm as well as his anchor from the gravity distortion. The decepticon leader roared in pain as he began to free float through the room.

"ok, the decoy was a nice touch, but once again, a little warning would've helpful!" optimus groaned

Optimus was then bashed from behind by an out of control bulkhead.

"would it kill you bots to say something like "heads up" or, I don't know, "watch out" or…"

"incoming!" red alert yelled

She had grabbed the severed section of meagtron arm with a magnetic beam from her tool and hurled it back at him, knocking the decepticon back and into the control panel. This caused the engines to kick on and their ship drove towards the planet, heating as it entered the atmosphere. The forward thrust and sudden return of gravity sent the autobots slamming into the walls. Optimus however was sent sliding down the main corridor towards the cargo hold. Red alert saw that megatron followed after him. She knew he would need help and wanted to follow but had to ensure the others were alright first. It would take all of them to hold off megatron. Landing in the cargo hold, optimus had barely come to a halt when megatrons foot crushed down on his upper body. He looked up to see the warlord looming over him, sword in hand, so tall that his face looked as if it were in shadow.

"now bring me the all spark, and I "may" spare your miserable autobot lives" he sneered

Megatron brought his sword to cut through optimus, who blocked the blow with his axe. They struggled against each other's strength until a bright light caught megatrons attention. It was the all-spark, the treasure of his millions of Steller cycles of searching. His foe distracted, optimus saw his chance and extended his axes handle to its limit, which managed to hit its target; the exit ramp control panel.

"docking tunnel deployed" the computer rang

The tunnel extended out and opened, and a torrent of suction and pressure overwhelmed the room and the two bots were pulled out through the shaft. Optimus slowed his exit by digging his axe blade into the wall. Megatron had lost his sword and under threat of falling out, reached to grab at optimus to save himself. Knowing megaton would still be a threat to them and the all-spark, optimus knew what he had to do and forced the decepticon away with a hard kick. He heard the spark chilling roar megatron let out as he fell from the tunnel, super heating into a fatal projectile in the atmosphere. Optimus watched until the fiery form disappeared from sight and prayed it was the end of the enemy.

"telatraan-1, close docking bay" he ordered

"closing docking bay" it replied

As the bay shut and optimus freed his axe, he weakly made his way back to ensure the all-spark was secure. Thankfully, it was safe and undamaged by the battle.

"optimus, do you read me?" red alert came over the comms

"i'm here red, what is it?"

"are you alright, where is megatron?"

"gone. Whats the situation?"

"the ships out of control and caught in the planets gravity. We're going down!"

"ill be right there"

Optimus staggered back down the corridor towards the control room, getting banged around with the turbulence of their planetary entry.

"warning: planetary impact imminent" the computer reported

Optimus made it to the head when he saw from the view that time was short.

"everyone into the stasis pods" he ordered

Each of the other autobots made their way into their stasis pods, but hot shot spun around to see optimus wasn't joining them.

"aren't you coming boss bot?"

"not until I've steered us clear of this populated sector!"

He took hold of the controls and directed the ship over the alien buildings. The others looked to optimus until their pods closed and activated, sending them all into stasis. Finally, as the ship dropped lower and lower, optimus cleared the city and the ship was set to land in a large natural body of water. Satisfied that they and the natives were save, optimus locked the controls and rushed into his own stasis pod. The last sight he saw was the skim of water over the ship as it splashed down and sunk into the depths. He was left to wonder how long until telatraan-1 wound be able to reactivate them as everything went dark and he slipped into stasis.


End file.
